KUWAIT CITY, Jan 21: KPC announced the availability of job opportunities for recent university graduates in several engineering and science disciplines, including chemical engineering, mechanical and industrial engineering, electronic and electrical engineering, computer engineering, safety and environmental engineering, chemistry, cybersecurity, and mathematics. Applications started from January 20 and will continue till February 10.

This decision is in confirmation of an article published by the daily in November last year regarding KPC’s plan to hire Kuwaiti engineering graduates. According to informed sources, KPC is currently leading a large-scale recruitment campaign to hire the largest possible number of Kuwaiti nationals in all its subsidiaries during 2026.

This aligns with KPC’s goal of increasing the Kuwaitization rate in its subsidiaries from the current 91 percent to at least 98 percent by 2030. The total number of Kuwaiti nationals working in the oil sector under last year’s budget was 20,336, in addition to 349 Kuwaitis appointed to administrative positions in KPC subsidiaries in September 2025. KPC is placing special focus on increasing the percentage of women in leadership positions in KPC and its subsidiaries. Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC) leads in female representation on its boards of directors at 43 percent, followed by Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) and Kuwait Petroleum International (KPI), each with 33 percent.

Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) and KPC both recorded 29 percent, placing them in third position. Kuwait Oil Tanker Company ranked fourth with 17 percent, while Kuwait Integrated Petroleum Industries Company (KIPIC) had the lowest representation at 14 percent. Women occupy 14 percent of senior administrative positions, including deputy managing director and above, while their representation in middle management roles, such as directors and department heads, reaches approximately 20 percent.

At the senior administrative level and below, the percentage of female employees with university degrees stands at 32 percent, while the lowest representation, 3 percent, is among female employees holding a diploma or lower. The sources confirmed that KPC is committed to protecting Kuwaiti employees on its contracts by requiring contracting and oil services companies to pay salaries on time and safeguard their rights and job benefits. According to KPC’s latest statistics, the number of Kuwaiti employees in these contracts reached 5,236.

By Najeh Bilal Al-Seyassah/Arab Times Staff